Frost

This morning the world was frost. I took my camera along when I went down the driveway to pick up the paper and took some photos. I had trouble choosing which to blip so the rest are in the extras. Such beauty. And how cold it still is here.

This afternoon I am picking up Helena and we are taking Arvin out to a celebratory dinner. Today is our 27th wedding anniversary. He will like having an evening out and we will all enjoy a Thai dinner at Wanida's. (Funny name for a Thai restaurant, but the food is yummy.) I like that Helena is joining us. She is such an important part of our lives right now.

I called OAT Travel this morning to change my reservation for Africa. I had signed up for two consecutive trips but was not really happy about the first one. So I found the one I really wanted and booked that instead. I'll have a couple of days between trips to catch my breath and relax before I head out again. My trips will be in the summer of 2018. The links below are for this year's trips but you can get an idea of where I'll be.

I'm starting here: https://www.oattravel.com/trips/land-adventures/africa/southern-africa-south-africa-zimbabwe-namibia-botswana/2017?icid=global:ouradventures:africa:boo2017 The first trip is to southern Africa including the pre-trip to the Okavango Delta. I leave Seattle on July 28, 2018 (or perhaps earlier if I tack on a personal pre-trip visit to my friends in Holland since the Africa flight goes through Amsterdam). Then two days after that ends I start the pre-trip to the Masai Mara on the second trip : https://www.oattravel.com/trips/land-adventures/africa/safari-serengeti-tanzania-lodge-and-tented-safari/2017?icid=global:ouradventures:africa:unx2017 I get home in early September. I'll be gone about six weeks. That is the longest I've been away and quite a long time away from Arvin. But at this point I have no idea what will be happening then anyhow.

I have never even considered spending this much money on travel. But I figure I will never again get to Africa. And I really want to see both areas. So I'm going to do it! And I'm going to pay early. That way I save 10% and the money is spent. No backing out... except of course I do have trip insurance for it all in case something besides money comes up to mess with things. At my age and in my life right now, I can not ever be really sure what will happen a year and a half from now. I am excited about the idea of doing this. Now I just have a year and a half to obsess over it.